Thread tensioning apparatus



0d. 1943- r F. WHOLTON 2,331,261

THREAD TENSIONING APPARATUS Filed July 29, 1942 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR I FRED WHOLTO'N I BY l-us ATTORNEYS;

0 1943- F. WHOLTON THREAD TENSIONING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 29, 1942 INVENTOR FRED WHOLTQN BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 5, 1943 UNITED STATE THREAD TENSIONING APPARATUS Fred Wholton, Croft, near Leicester, England, as-

signor to Courtaulds Limited, London, England,

a British company Application July 29, 1942, Serial No. 452,794

In Great Britain September 9, 1941 1' Claim.

The object of this invention is to provide a compensating tension device which-functions so as to tend to keep constant the tension in a thread which is being wound from one receptacle onto another, and is particularly useful when the thread is being wound into the form of a cone. My new tension device comprises two fixed guides and between them a frictional surface and a'movable guide attached to a carrier which is capable of rotation about an axis, and an adjustable weight also attached to the said carrier on the same side as the said movable guide of a vertical line'running through the said axis; v In the tension device according to my invention, the adjustable weight tends to make the movable guide move so that the length of thread which is in contact with the frictional surface tends to increase, while an increase in the tension of the thread tends to make the movable guide move in the opposite direction, and to decrease the length of thread in contact with the frictional surface. The frictional surface which forms part of my tension ,device may be a porcelain or glass rod, and may form part of the wellknown cymbal tension-device.

The invention will now be described in connection with the drawings in which Figures 1 and 2 each represent in elevation diiferent methods of constructing the device. In Figure 1, the thread A passes from the cake B through a fixed guide C in contact'with the frictional surface D through a movable guide E then in contact with the fixed guide F and through a traversing eye G on to the receptacle H on which the thread is being wound in the form of a cone. The movable guide E is attached to a rod or wire J, the other end of which is fastened to a disc K rotatable about the centre L. A weight M is also at-.

tached to the disc K by means of the arm N.- The disc K is hollow and contains a loose ball P which acts as a stabiliser to diminish or prevent oscillation of the disc K'together withthe guide E. It will be seen that the weight M tends to cause the movable guide E to move in such a direction as to increase the arc of contact of the thread .A with the frictional surface D, which consists, for instance, of a porcelain rod. On the other hand, any extra tension on the thread A will tend to-make the guide E move upwards and to decrease the arc of contact of the thread with the frictional surface, so that thetotal tension on the thread remains practically constant.

In Figure 2 like letters refer to similar parts in Figure 1, but the disc K in Figure 1 has been replaced by a bar Q pivoted at L.

What I claim is: v r

A device for compensating the tension in'a running thread comprising a carrier capable of rotation about an axis, a guide and an adjustable weight attached to said carrier on the same side of a vertical line running through such axis, two fixed guides and a stationary body having a frictional surface, said movable guide and said frictional surface being situated between the said two fixed guides.

FRED WHOLTON. 

